


One Drink

by ravenbringslight



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst, First Time, Loki Needs a Hug, M/M, Pre-Thor (2011), Romance, Sibling Incest, and a therapist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-12
Updated: 2016-11-12
Packaged: 2018-08-30 12:47:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8533648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ravenbringslight/pseuds/ravenbringslight
Summary: Thor wants to take Loki drinking. Loki is about as happy as a cat in a bathtub.    But Thor was ever a man of action. Missing his brother’s company and eager to cast off the afternoon’s stress, Thor resolved to find Loki wherever he was hiding, root the miserable wretch out by force if necessary, and take him drinking.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Welp this is my first foray into fic writing. Hope you enjoy. You can visit me at [https://raven-brings-light.tumblr.com/](https://raven-brings-light.tumblr.com)

The night air on Thor’s face felt blessedly cool after the warmth of the council chamber. He’d been there the better part of the afternoon, listening to angry old men funnel complaints into his head until it felt like to burst with the pressure. Odin had borne it with a stoic graciousness that Thor envied but could not emulate, and when Odin had finally signaled the meeting over Thor had all but fled. 

He wondered where his brother had gotten off to. Loki’s chair had sat empty in the council chamber this afternoon. Loki was ever fickle, and lately he had been absent from council meetings more often than not. _Aye, and the practice fields and the feasting hall as well_ , Thor thought grimly. _In truth, I do not recall the last time I have seen him in person._ The realization hit him like a blow.

But Thor was ever a man of action. Missing his brother’s company and eager to cast off the afternoon’s stress, Thor resolved to find Loki wherever he was hiding, root the miserable wretch out by force if necessary, and take him drinking.

* * *

Thor finally found Loki reading a book under the shade of one of Idunn’s apple trees. The late afternoon sunlight dappled his ravenwing hair with gold. He was murmuring something under his breath, brows furrowed in concentration, while next to him a golden apple glowed faintly green. He snapped the book shut as soon as he saw Thor and rose smoothly to his feet, all traces of the glowing apple concealed.

“Brother!” boomed Thor. “You missed the meeting!”

“I am aware,” Loki said. “What of it?”

“You also missed the one before that, and the one before that,” Thor said. “The councilors are beginning to talk.”

“Let them wag their tongues,” Loki spat. “Their pathetic mewling is of no concern to me.”

Thor could not help but laugh at his brother’s spiteful tone. “Yes, but it is of concern to Father, which will soon make it of concern to you.” He clapped his hand onto Loki’s slim shoulder. “But come, let us raise a horn and forget the mutterings of foolish old men. I have hardly seen you these three months and I would be glad of your company this night.”

Loki pursed his lips in distaste and ducked out from under Thor’s arm. “Drinking? Really? That’s why you sought me out? Brother, your wits are more addled than usual.”

Thor knew that it was true that Loki rarely drank, but he felt possessed of a greater purpose and he felt ill inclined to let Loki wriggle free so easily. “Come brother! You have secreted yourself away for too long! I will toss you over my shoulder if I must!” he laughed, throwing his arms wide and making as if to scoop Loki up. Loki looked at him with frank horror before rolling his eyes and sighing, “Fine, you great oaf. But I will have you know that I do this under protest.”

* * *

Thor looked over at Loki as they strode towards the great hall. He seemed sharp, somehow, his eyes a little more piercing, the lines of his body a little more spare than they had been. For the past three months Thor had seen scarcely more of Loki than a flash of green down a corridor and to see him now in the flesh was almost overwhelming. He knew that Loki was prone to fits of solitude, so he had mostly let him be. But of late his absence had seemed less about solitude and more about avoiding Thor specifically, which Thor found bewildering. _He must have a reason for it_ , Thor thought, _and tonight I will wrest it from him._

“What?” Loki said sharply, noticing Thor’s eyes on him. 

“I’ve missed you,” Thor said, plastering on a beatific smile. The disgust on Loki’s face was heartwarming in its sincerity.

* * *

The noise of scores of warriors drinking and feasting filled the great hall. Thor was in high spirits and into his third cup before he noticed that Loki’s sour expression had not moved and he had been changing his own mead into water. 

“Why so quiet, Loki? Cat got your tongue?” teased Fandral. 

“In truth I prefer him silent,” laughed Sif.

“Make merry with us, Brother!” entreated Thor.

“Certainly not,” Loki snorted. “In fact, if you’re quite done dragging me around like an oxen, I’ll be taking my leave.” He started to rise but was halted by Thor’s hand on his wrist.

“One drink, Loki,” Thor said. “Please,” he added softly.

“Yes, and then he can slither back to his spellbooks,” said Fandral, smirking through his pointed beard. 

“Your friends care not for my presence, Thor,” Loki said. “If it’s all the same to you, I have some studying to -”

“ _Our_ friends, and it’s not all the same to me!” Thor cried, good mood evaporated. “Study! Is that what you’ve been doing for the last three months? Study? Is that worth more than our company? My company?” He felt a tightness in his chest, a hollowness he could not quite define.

Loki’s eyes were very bright. “Would you really like to talk about this right here, right now?” he asked through tight lips. Thor realized suddenly that the space around them had cleared out and their friends had faded into the woodwork.

“Come,” Thor said curtly, not relinquishing his hold on Loki’s wrist as he dragged his brother from the hall.

“Oh well done,” Loki sneered. “Can you imagine how insufferable Fandral and Sif will be after this? Did you even stop to think -”

Thor rounded on Loki. “Enough!” he bit out. His hands flexed uselessly between them. This evening was not going at all as he had planned. Loki gazed at him impassively. “All I wanted,” Thor continued more softly, “was to pass a pleasant evening drinking with my brother who I have not seen at all as of late -”

Loki scoffed and pushed past him down the hallway. “Yes, all you wanted,” he said. “Did you think to ask what I wanted?”

“It used to be one and the same!” Thor called after him. “When did we come to be at such odds? What have I done to offend you so?”

Loki paused, looking at the floor, his back very straight. His dark hair just brushed the tops of his shoulders and Thor wondered when it had grown. His hands smoothed away imaginary wrinkles on his pants. His fingers were very long, and they were stained with ink.

“Nothing,” Loki said finally. “Everything.” 

Thor didn’t understand. But he went to Loki anyway, and cupped his pale neck as he had a thousand times before. Thor’s hand was very warm. Loki flinched. He was still looking at the floor.

“One drink,” Thor repeated.

Loki looked up at him finally, his face unreadable.

“One drink,” he agreed.

* * *

Thor had lost his taste for the noise and spectacle of the great hall, so he led them to his own chambers. He knew there were usually spirits waiting for him on the sideboard and tonight was no disappointment. He poured them each a generous measure and thrust one of the glasses at Loki without looking at him. He tossed his own drink back in one swift gulp and was already pouring a second by the time he finally turned towards his brother.

Loki was staring grimly into the depths of his glass, corners of his mouth turned down ever so slightly. “Ah. Well,” he said nonsensically, then drained his own drink as well. He grimaced. “That is detestable,” he complained. “There, now you’ve had your one drink from me, so I’ll just be leav-”

“No,” Thor said. “No, Loki, if you truly did not wish to see me I never would have found you, and you never would have come with me. You protest with your mouth,” and truly it was a worrisome mouth, “but your actions tell me a different tale complete.” The tight feeling in his chest threatened to crawl up his throat and choke him. “You run,” Thor said, realizing, “that I might chase you.” His eyes were locked on Loki’s, searching. “But why?” 

Loki broke their gaze first. He laughed bitterly, a short bark that seemed out of place coming from his elegant throat. “You think you see me now, Brother?” he asked. The space between them, mere feet, felt enormous. Thor wished it gone instantly, but Loki held it with his eyes and his body and the set of his jaw, an impassable gulf. “You see nothing. You understand nothing.” His eyes were very bright again.

“Help me, then,” Thor pleaded. How had this night gone so wrong? He cast his mind desperately back, scrabbling for a memory of the last time they were together with the easy camaraderie that he assumed they would have tonight. In truth, he found he had to go much farther back than three months. Three years, more like. His mind felt dim with drink and shame. “When? When did you fall from my side? How did I not see it?”

The color was rising high on Loki’s cheeks. The spirits, probably. Loki never could hold his liquor very well. “When you left _me_ ,” he hissed. “When you took up that blasted hammer and your arrogance multiplied tenfold. When you started looking down on my sorcery just like everyone else. But I’ve been learning, Thor, and I’ve been practicing and I will not stay living in your shadow, Thor’s poor weak younger brother, always compared to your greatness and found _so lacking_.” His chest was heaving now and a single tear fell down his cheek as the hateful words kept tumbling out of his mouth. “And you didn’t even notice. You have no idea -”

Thor felt his heart cracking. “I -” he began, his voice catching. “I did. I did, I just thought -”

“No,” Loki said hotly, raising his hand between them. Thor wished to take it in his own, kiss it, press it to his face, and held himself back only by iron force of will. “I’ve had to fight for every meager scrap I have, but you - oh you were just given everything. The golden son. You have _everything_ , Thor. So I choose to give you _nothing_ and hope you choke on it.” Oh, oh so that was it. Loki spun silver lies, but Thor had heard them all his life and knew how to find the grain of truth at the center. He felt a fool for not seeing it earlier. Of course. The tightness in his chest shifted and found a new home, one he hadn’t even considered before. He saw Loki’s heart laid bare before him and felt his own sing out in glad answer.

Suddenly the space between them seemed no space at all. He surged forward and claimed Loki’s lips with his own, cradling Loki’s face with his hands. He swallowed Loki’s startled little “ooh!” and felt his slim fingers reach up to wrap around Thor’s forearms. The kiss was gentle, but Thor felt lightning gathering in the air, under his skin. Loki broke away gasping and rested his forehead against Thor’s, still clutching onto Thor’s arms. “I can’t,” he nearly sobbed. “Please. You can’t have this too.”

But his words and his actions were at odds, as ever. He pressed his trembling body to Thor’s and buried his face in Thor’s chest. Thor embraced him tightly, one arm around the waist and the other stroking that too-long hair. “How long have you felt this way?” he murmured. He felt Loki shrug minutely and then he was tilting his tear-tracked face up towards Thor and their lips found each other again.

This time Loki leaned in and deepened the kiss, licking and worrying at Thor’s lower lip. Thor groaned. He was spiraling, down, down, dizzy with drink and lust and love. His bones felt electric. Loki. Loki. He wasn’t sure if he was saying it out loud. 

“Brother,” Loki whispered, biting his ear, and Thor shuddered. He tugged Loki’s head to the side by the hair and ran a line of hot kisses down his exposed neck. Loki reached up and buried his hands in Thor’s hair, his nails on Thor’s scalp sending tiny shocks down to his toes. Thor ran his hands over every inch of Loki’s body that he could reach. A flower was blooming inside him, petals unfurling into all the spaces he hadn’t even known were empty until just now. He felt full, and light, and like he would shatter.

Outside, thunder rumbled in the distance and raindrops began to tap against the window.

* * *

Afterwards, they lay tangled together in Thor’s bed, a long expanse of naked limbs and twisted sheets. Loki’s head was on Thor’s chest, his fingers tracing idle circles around Thor’s navel.

“Stay with me tonight,” Thor whispered into Loki’s hair, thumb stroking lazily at Loki’s side. He felt rather than heard Loki scoff. Loki rose with his back to Thor and began drawing his clothing back on. He hadn’t met Thor’s gaze since...well. Thor propped himself up on one elbow and laced his fingers together, staring at his knuckles.

Loki finally turned back with one hand on the door and cast Thor a last unreadable gaze before his lips quirked slightly at the corners. “Sentiment,” he said, and was Thor imagining the shake in his voice? And then he was gone into the night.


End file.
